Infection total surges within expectations

Large rise in province's cases due to revised diagnosis criterion, experts say

The sudden spike in newly confirmed cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia in Hubei province on Wednesday is due to a revised diagnosis criterion, and experts said the change, which is within expectations, can enable more people to obtain appropriate medical treatment.

Hubei had 14,840 additional confirmed cases on Wednesday, the highest daily increase so far, Hubei Provincial Health Commission said on Thursday morning.

Of these newly confirmed cases, 13,332 were clinically diagnosed, meaning suspected patients were identified as having the disease based on symptoms, medical history, and computerized tomography, or CT scans, rather than testing positive for the virus using lab kits, which accounted for 1,508 of the new cases.